The word Fortune first appeared in the U.S. baby name data — both as a boy name and as a girl name — in the middle of the 1910s:
| Boys named Fortune | Girls named Fortune | |
| 1917 | . | . |
| 1916 | 7 | 5* |
| 1915 | 6* | . |
| 1914 | . | . |
| 1913 | . | . |
We can see a similar increase in the usage of Fortune in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) data:
- 1917: 6 people with the first name Fortune
- 1916: 10 people with the first name Fortune
- 1915: 9 people with the first name Fortune
- 1914: 2 people with the first name Fortune
- 1913: 3 people with the first name Fortune
So, what was the influence?
My guess is the silent film The Carpet from Bagdad, which came out in May of 1915. One of the main characters was a woman named Fortune Chedsoye (played by actress Kathlyn Williams).
According to an advertisement for the film, The Carpet from Bagdad told the story of “how a precious prayer-rug was boldly snatched from the innermost shrine of a sacred Mosque, passed from hand to hand, and of how, in its travels the rug imperiled the lives of two men and a beautiful young woman.”
Movie-going audiences would have seen Fortune’s name on-screen repeatedly, due to the intertitles.
The film was based on the novel The Carpet from Bagdad (1911) by Harold MacGrath.
It was thought to be lost until one of the film’s five reels was salvaged from the wreck of the RMS Lusitania (which sank in May of 1915).
What are your thoughts on Fortune as a personal name?
Sources:
- The Carpet from Bagdad – Wikipedia
- “Future Film Features.” Movie Pictorial May 1915: 12.
- Selig Polyscope Co. advertisement. Moving Picture World 24 Apr. 1915: 582-583.